The 3 Hunting Rifle Battery Thread

[Sgt Nambu]

Hornet. I lived in eastern Oregon. It was far from the only case we ever found laying in the street, but I think it's the only Hornet case I've ever found. I probably still have it. Cutest case I've ever seen.
After I had a Hornet for a while, I'm sure a K Hornet would be in the works. Not as "cute", but I love hot-rodding things.

Yep, they are both cute cases! But, the Kilbourn re-shouldered Hornet has a bit more zip than the original.
But the benefits of the shoulder over the original bottleneck cartridge is it stops the horrible brass flow! The original case is good for, perhaps, five reloads before you have to scrap them! Adding the 40* shoulder (and neck sizing) allows for a nearly indefinite case life. If you don't make .223's out of them, that is! As always with this type of thing, YMMV!

 

[Sgt Nambu]

The strangest thing about the M788 I had, is I shot any/every kind of ammo I ever found through it, and it all shot decent.
Some of it was better than others, but I can't recall anything it wouldn't shoot at 1.5 MOA or better.
There was no such thing as ammo that gun didn't like.

Being as young and naive as I was, I thought all rifles would be that way.
And since I sold it I've never had another gun that would do that.

That is so true! My 788 in .22-250 shot sub gnats azz groups, and with most manufacturers rounds! Sad sad day when I stupidly traded it!!!

 

[Jamie6.5]

That is so true! My 788 in .22-250 shot sub gnats azz groups, and with most manufacturers rounds! Sad sad day when I stupidly traded it!!!

Yup.
The part that pizzes me off is what I got for it on the trade-in.
But hey, it was only a $97.00 gun to begin with.
The MSRP on it was $89.95 from the factory!

 

[orygun]

Yep, they are both cute cases! But, the Kilbourn re-shouldered Hornet has a bit more zip than the original.
But the benefits of the shoulder over the original bottleneck cartridge is it stops the horrible brass flow! The original case is good for, perhaps, five reloads before you have to scrap them! Adding the 40* shoulder (and neck sizing) allows for a nearly indefinite case life.

This is part of the "reasoning" of doing the Ackley Improved treatment to my 30-06. A K-Hornet would be a nice stablemate.

 

[Stomper]

22LR Ruger 10/22 for varmits and small non/game

5.56/6.8 AR or a 7.62 AK for medium game/predators

.308 Ruger American Rifle (or my .308 Galil) for large game.



I know that "technically" totals six rifles so.... COME AND TAKE IT!

 

[salmonriverjohn]

.22 Hornet or .22K Hornet? It would be most rare to find a K Hornet on a street!

View attachment 369821
.22K Hornet on the right.

Just not too long back I gave my (k) dies and rifle to my kid brother that has soooo wanted it for the last few decades, I guess I'm just a sucker for my little brother.

 

[P7M13]

22LR Ruger 10/22 for varmits and small non/game

5.56/6.8 AR or a 7.62 AK for medium game/predators

.308 Ruger American Rifle (or my .308 Galil) for large game.



I know that "technically" totals six rifles so.... COME AND TAKE IT!

Notify me when you're dead, please. There'd be too many casualties if you weren't.

 

[DeanMk]

Every forum has to have the "What 3 rifles would you pick for your hunting rifle battery" thread. I'm not sure why its always 3, but for tradition and the sake of brevity, we'll stick to 3.
What 3 rifles do you or would you have to do all of your favorite hunting?

I'd do a .223, a .30-06 and a .460 Weatherby.
I'm thinking either the OP's Tikka or maybe a CZ-527 Varmint for the small caliber rifle.
If I could find one, a Stevens 200 for the '06. If not, any of the standard Stevens/Savage hunting rifles (110, 114, etc.), in stainless, would work also.
Of course, a Mk. V would be my only choice to fire the big Weatherby round.
That should about cover anything anyone could think to hunt.
The .223 for game up to very small deer.
The '06 would be my general hunting rifle and the one that would probably get used the most.
After that, we're talking about very large, very dangerous game. Lions, Elephants, Sasquatch, Killer Clowns, really anything that might fall outside the realm of "typical game animals". Also, the big Weatherby meets "international standards" by shooting a bullet at least 3/8" in diameter.
If you need more than that, you're probably looking at .50 BMG or one of the larger Express rounds.
...btw, while I realize we're only supposed to be held to 3 guns, if I could take a second to comment on smaller, lighter rounds, an interesting challenge might be insect hunting with an air rifle.
No honey bees, please, but house fly's aren't just in the house. Dragonfly's, moth's with their insane flight patterns, this kind of thing.
I can't think of a better suited arm for this challenge than a run-of-the-mill air rifle.
...might be kind of fun and you could hunt them all year around.


Dean

 

[Kruel J]

.22 WMR, .308, 50 BMG all in bolt action firearms. There is nothing with lungs that can't fall into these three categories.

Mic drop!

 

[orygun]

I'd do a .223, a .30-06 and a .460 Weatherby.

Dean

Jesus! That aught to cover EVERYTHING...

 

[Joe13]

Jesus! That aught to cover EVERYTHING...

The .223 might be a bit much for small game like grouse, squirrels and rabbits but I've never tried

 

[orygun]

The .223 might be a bit much for small game like grouse, squirrels and rabbits but I've never tried

Yeah, to really cover the spectrum, it should have been 22LR, 30-06, 460 Weatherby Mag, right?

 

[djharteloo]

Man this is a hard one. Okay
1: My shiny new (to me) Ruger 77/22lr for grouse, rabbits, small game.
2: My Tikka M695 .280 Rem for deer/black bear.
3: My Winchester 70 .338 Win mag for elk and anything that can eat me.

My alternates.
1: CZ 527 carbine in 7.62x39 for deer in the brush.
2: my Bergara B14 .308 for deer/bears/elk under 300 yards.
3: my Winchester 70 30-06 for literally anything that can be killed in the PNW.

My wish list.
1: A Ruger 77/22 mag.
2: Some kind of Kimber 84 action in .280 Ackley.
3: A nice pre 64 Winchester 70 action rechambered in .35 whelen.
Man, maybe someday.

 

[eightyeight mag]

The .223 might be a bit much for small game like grouse, squirrels and rabbits but I've never tried

Perfect if you make head shots

 

[Kruel J]

.22 WMR, .308, 50 BMG all in bolt action firearms. There is nothing with lungs that can't fall into these three categories.

Mic drop!

Fellas, this question has been answered with authority here.

 

[orygun]

Man this is a hard one. Okay
1: My shiny new (to me) Ruger 77/22lr for grouse, rabbits, small game.
2: My Tikka M695 .280 Rem for deer/black bear.
3: My Winchester 70 .338 Win mag for elk and anything that can eat me.

My alternates.
1: CZ 527 carbine in 7.62x39 for deer in the brush.
2: my Bergara B14 .308 for deer/bears/elk under 300 yards.
3: my Winchester 70 30-06 for literally anything that can be killed in the PNW.

My wish list.
1: A Ruger 77/22 mag.
2: Some kind of Kimber 84 action in .280 Ackley.
3: A nice pre 64 Winchester 70 action rechambered in .35 whelen.
Man, maybe someday.

My opinion? Rechamber your Tikka. If you off it for the Kimber I'll bet you'll regret it.

 

[Caveman Jim]

1) Ruger 10/22 Deluxe for small game
2) Marlin 336 30-30 for West side deer (my longest shot at any deer I've killed is 70 yds)
3) Remington model 700 30-06 for deer/elk (which I have never killed an elk)

 

[DeanMk]

The .223 might be a bit much for small game like grouse, squirrels and rabbits but I've never tried

Probably, of course you can also hunt those animals with a shotgun (remember the OP asked about 3 RIFLES. Never said that they were your only guns ).


Dean

 

[DeanMk]

Jesus! That aught to cover EVERYTHING...

That's what I was trying to do.

 

[djharteloo]

My opinion? Rechamber your Tikka. If you off it for the Kimber I'll bet you'll regret it.

That's the plan when I shoot out the barrel in the Tikka. I'll probably never buy one of the kimbers for a number of reasons, but they are so light that they tempt me.